There are a variety of conventional hitch constructions for vehicles. Two of these conventional hitch types have reached a near ubiquitous level of recognition: (1) a trailer hitch having a receiver for receiving a shank and (2) a fifth wheel hitch. A third, less recognized conventional hitch is a custom hitch assembly designed to accommodate a particular vehicle and implement or accessory configuration. Each of these conventional hitches is often times used for one or more particular fields. For example, the conventional trailer hitch in many instances receives a shank attached to an accessory, such as a drawbar with a ball mount located proximate to an end of the shank. Accessory configurations can vary from application to application. To provide some additional examples, the drawbar can be used to tow a boat trailer, or the accessory can be a bike rack or cargo carrier. The conventional trailer hitch provides a single point connection to the vehicle—via the receiver—and therefore the type of accessories used in connection with this conventional trailer hitch are often times limited to accessories that do not require significant lateral stability or significant lateral loads. For example, a conventional trailer hitch is considered effective in towing applications, but less effective in the realm of a plow implement that exerts downward force or is subjected to lateral forces or loads.
The conventional trailer hitch, itself, may be mounted to the rear frame of the vehicle. There are several classes or variations of the trailer hitch, but a 2 in. by 2 in. receiver or a Class III or IV trailer hitch is one of the more common constructions. Many trucks and sport utility vehicles are fitted with such a Class III or IV trailer hitch. The Class of this type of conventional trailer hitch is generally indicative of the weight capacity of the hitch and the receiver size. There are several additional classes, such as Class I or Class V, trailer hitches available, depending on the application and desired weight carrying capacity.
The fifth wheel hitch, another conventional hitch, can be used in various towing applications, such as to tow a semi-trailer or recreational vehicle. The fifth wheel hitch utilizes a single point connection like the conventional trailer hitch, but, in some cases, provides greater towing stability over the conventional trailer hitch. Rather than the receiver and shaft construction of the trailer hitch, the conventional fifth wheel hitch utilizes a horseshoe shaped coupler that rotates to capture a kingpin mounted to the accessory being linked to the fifth wheel hitch. The conventional fifth wheel hitch construction is used in nearly all semi-trailer trucks or tractors on the road today in the U.S. The conventional fifth wheel hitch construction has also been used in the realm of pickup trucks or a truck having an open bed. The fifth wheel hitch can be mounted on two rails located on the truck bed and coupled to the frame of the truck through the truck bed. Because trucks of different makes can have different dimensions, the position of the rails, and therefore the fifth wheel hitch, within the truck bed often times varies between truck makes. Although the conventional fifth wheel hitch may offer additional stability over the conventional vehicle trailer hitch, conventional fifth wheel hitches, like the conventional vehicle trailer hitch, are used primarily for towing, and therefore tend to be less stabile when subjected to lateral loads. Further, the kingpin is allowed to rotate within the fifth wheel to facilitate traversing turns while towing an accessory, such as a trailer. In this way, the accessory is capable of rotating or pivoting about the fifth wheel.
In circumstances in which a hitch accessory or implement is not configured to interface with a conventional trailer hitch or fifth wheel hitch, a custom hitch can be constructed according to the specific dimensions of the hitch accessory and the vehicle to which the hitch accessory or implement is being attached. For example, custom hitches are often times used in conjunction with rear mounted snowplow accessories. As mentioned herein, trucks of different makes can have different dimensions, such as different frame locations and truck bed configurations. Because rear mounted snowplow accessories can be subjected to lateral loads or configured to exert downward forces, the single point connection offered by the conventional trailer hitch or fifth wheel hitch can be insufficient to provide an effective connection. The custom hitch may include more than one connection point, and therefore is considered to offer stability over these conventional standard hitches. However, construction of a custom hitch in many cases is laborious and involves custom fabrication of a construction specific to both the make of vehicle and the snowplow dimensions. Further, reuse of the custom hitch in connection with a different vehicle make or a different snowplow can be encumbered or impossible without significant effort or rework of the custom hitch. As a result, upgrades to vehicles or snowplows within a fleet of snowplow vehicles can be costly in terms of additional labor to construct new custom hitches.